Watch Where You’re Placing Your Footprints

Are you aware of what you’re posting, sending, liking, commenting, and submitting online? Is it something that you would freely share with your future employer? If not, you may have some cleaning up to do. In the large world of computers and technology, there’s something called a digital footprint. A digital footprint is data released by a user for the purpose of sharing information about oneself by means of websites or social media. In other words, your online activity produces information about you the more you are on the Internet, using social networks, etc. Digital footprints are also gathered simply by visiting websites, sending emails or messages through the Internet, publishing blogs, and even entering information into online service sites. These “footprints” literally leave a trail of your Internet history pertaining to what you’ve searched, posted, sent, commented, or liked while being on the Internet. In fact, every single “like” on Facebook, every picture posted on Instagram, and every “tweet” on Twitter expands a person’s digital footprint. That being said, anything you do online on any kind of network or website can be traced by using your digital footprints.

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In addition, if you’re not careful with what you’re doing on the Internet or sharing with the world, it could lead to a number of disasters in the future. An article from PR News gives us insight on digital footprints by telling us that our digital footprints are everything. They are more than just our activity on the Internet, but they can also set online reputations for us as well. It’s actually pretty remarkable how we are becoming “increasingly defined” by our online reputations, which could lead to a good or bad outcome. Depending on how you use the Internet, your digital footprints may be working against you; and a little frightening, but true, digital footprints are permanent. Yes, that’s right, “this means that for every one of your online actions—positive or negative, deliberate or unintentional—there is a permanent record.” So maybe you’ll think twice about those negative, hateful comments you were about to post? Let’s hope so.

Another article from BetaNews specifically identifies how your activity on the Internet can damage your reputation online and in real life. Perhaps we’ve been in a situation where we’ve either experienced someone completely losing all self-control and respect while being online in the comment section of a Facebook post or we’ve been that person ourselves. Using any kind of profane comment or threat on a website is bad news for anyone involved in that attack; those posts stay within that website and become a part of your footprints. The article gives us some examples of situations in which someone was affected by their actions online. The first incident occurred during June of 2018 and involved a UPS worker that was fired from her job after 25 years because of a racist Facebook comment that was based on a news article. In addition, James Gunn, the director of Guardians of the Galaxy films, and Roseanne Barr, a television star in the TV series Roseanne, were both fired from their jobs for offensive social media posts. In Gunn’s situation, his posts were five or six years old, and it unfortunately still cost him his job after that many years.

This goes to show that not just recent posts can be troubling, but every post that one has ever made can pose potential conflict. It’s actually pretty scary, in my opinion, to have these consequences from what is placed on the Internet; who knew that something as simple as posting a comment could result in ruining one’s reputation? Well, it depends what that comment entails. Therefore, the author continues by giving advice on how to protect ourselves from forming a bad reputation online; he tells us to think twice before we post and to use privacy settings. In today’s society, it seems as though younger people don’t know how to function without social media. So, growing up on social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram leaves a lot of room for thoughtless mistakes and uncalled for comments that may result in a negative impression within your digital footprints. Then someday when you suddenly are grown up and are trying to get a job, those mistakes and comments do nothing but damage your reputation. As demonstrated by James Gunn, these comments are more than likely preserved online somehow and years later, in Gunn’s case, his “joke” caused him to lose his job. So be smart and cautious while using social media or just the Internet in general, because it will save you and your reputation much more than you would think.

In conclusion, and for your benefit, there are tools out there somewhere that you can use to delete your old Facebook or Twitter posts. By doing so, it would immensely reduce the risk that someone would find something that you don’t want them to see and prevent them from using it against you in the future. In addition, many people look at social media pages to try to learn who a person is; although it’s rather difficult, some people still do, such as potential employers, college recruiters, or even someone you’re beginning to date. It’s important to use privacy settings to at least try to prevent people from jumping to conclusions and guessing your reputation based on what you’ve posted. If what you do online isn’t a concern to you, that’s great. But if there’s anything potentially damaging to you, it’s important to reduce it as much as possible, because it can and will have a strong impact on the rest of your life.

Second year student at Mount Aloysius College studying Ultrasonography. I enjoy doing activities outside like hiking and fishing, while I also like to play sports, exercise, watch movies and bake. In addition to writing for The Belltower, I'm also a Mercy Presidential Scholar, a Campus Ministry member, and a Rotaract Club member.